Came Close
by TeamChaosPrez
Summary: She came so close. She was within inches of sealing the deal, of ending herself... {MaBill. Rated T for suicidal theme and mention of self-harm.}


_Blaaaaah felt like writing something depressingish. This is how Bill and Mabel re-met, when she was about 15. Just a warning, this has suicidal and self-harm themes, so if you're uncomfortable with that please don't read it._

Mabel Pines, airhead of the family.

Mabel Pines, too eccentric to be around normal people.

Mabel Pines, who would just knit her sweaters, whistling through her braces.

Mabel Pines, the girl with the pet pig.

Mabel Pines, moved to Oregon to escape the clutches of one bully to meet another.

Mabel Pines, whose large grin had become fake.

Mabel Pines, the girl in the woods with the scarf in her hand and scars running up her arms.

The brunette teen took glances at the noose she had created with her pink sequined scarf as she walked through the forest, her black sweater defending her from the crisp coolness of the autumn night. Her legs, however, lacked the necessary protection with just the knee-length black skirt of her night gown. Her bare feet were beginning to get scraped up from the twigs, dirt and moist fallen leaves causing the scrapes to sting.

She had snuck out before her twin brother could notice she was leaving. She had only enough time to pull on the nearest sweater and grab the nearest scarf, not bothering to pull on socks and flats. She was sure that Dipper would wake up soon enough and discover she was missing.

But this was her best option compared to returning to Gravity Falls High School the next day, facing Pacifica Northwest and her cronies. Sure, she had Candy and Grenda to return to, but they could get on just fine without her. She was Pacifica's only target lately.

Dipper and Grunkle Stan might be hurt, but they could get along without her.

Then there was Soos and Wendy. They'd recover just fine too.

It was the comparison between being in a burning building and just jumping into the flames or sticking around to burn slowly. Everyone was going to die eventually, so what was the harm in just speeding up the process?

After all, she was just the airhead. Underestimated, shunned, treated like a child. Not too desperately important in any way. The world would be a better place without Mabel Pines holding everyone down, that she was sure of.

Finally, she found the perfect tree. Tall, foreboding, standing threateningly above all the rest with all its leaves gone and bony arms of branches reaching up to the cloudy night sky. Upon closer investigation, she saw that it was an ancient oak tree.

She found a small carving in the wood. US & RV. She rubbed her thumb against it. This made the tree more familiar. She recalled climbing up it a few years previously, during that first summer. Her brother had begged her to come down, and she had grabbed an acorn off the nearby pine tree and thrown it at his big head.

Mabel smirked. It would be nice to end her life in a place where a good memory had happened. She sighed, fastening the scarf around her neck and grabbing a heavy rock, tying the other end around it.

As soon as the knot was tightly in place and she was gearing up to throw it across a branch and end the deal, a tight knot of fear found its way into her chest, and a lump formed in her throat that made it impossible to swallow.

_If I die here, now . . . what's next?_

She stayed in the position one would throw a football or a baseball pitch from, the arm holding the rock far behind her head. She took a deep, shaky breath.

_It's too late for regrets now. You are not going to chicken out of this one. This time, it's over, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me. Even I am not going to talk myself out of this one. Remember what Pacifica said? She said that you're just a worthless little worm, and she's right._

She took a step forward and was about to throw the rock, only to be stopped by a somewhat familiar voice.

"What are you doing?"

The sudden acknowledgment was enough to make her drop the rock and jump, spinning around almost comically fast and getting slapped in the face by her own chocolate curls.

Standing about ten feet away was a tall boy, a top hat resting atop his messy blonde hair and his yellow suit strangely crisp for being in the middle of the woods, a bow tie standing out on the white shirt he wore under the suit jacket.

"Don't even bother, I know what you were about to do, but the real question is what made you think it was a good idea. Why do you think killing yourself will solve any problems, Shooting Star?"

Oh, _now_ she knew how he was familiar.

"What do you want, Bill?" She demanded, venom and embarrassment in her voice.

"Well, currently, just to know." There was nothing but sincere concern in the eye that wasn't covered by an eye-patch.

"You don't need to know. Just... just go away."

"And let you hang yourself from a creaky old oak? Nope, not a chance, kid."

She glared at him. "You're all-knowing, right? So you should be able to give me a reason to stick around, if there is one." She crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Well, where do I begin... how about the chain you would start?"

Mabel blinked. "Chain?"

"Tell me, Mabel, do you love your brother? Your friends, your uncle, your parents?"

"What the hell sort of question is that? Of course I do."

"Would you want them to choose this fate?"

"No!"

"Because if you go, Dipper and Candy go. You know they aren't strong enough to deal without you. Dipper and Candy go, boom, there go your parents and Grenda. Without any family, Stan can't deal with rock bottom. Soos loses his father figure and goes."

Silence.

"One more heart stops. One more smile disappears. Two more eyes close for good. All this, because she decided that some bully's opinion was more important than her own."

"Shut up!"

"Why? Do you not like knowing what you'll be doing to everyone that loves you?"

"Shut _up,_ Bill Cipher!"

"You'll be breaking so many hearts, ruining so many lives, keeping your future children from making this world a better place -"

He was cut off by Mabel running at him and hiding her face in his suit, sobbing. He tensed up at the gesture, as the demon wasn't typically anyone's go-to comforter.

He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her off, staring her seriously in the eyes.

"Shooting Star, do you honestly want to die? Or are you just tired? Unable to cope anymore?"

She looked up at him, tears leaking from the corners of her chocolate brown eyes.

"You can get help. There are so many people you can talk to, if you just give them a chance."

Mabel sniffled.

"You don't have to pretend to be happy if you're not." Bill finally said softly, putting a hand on the side of her face and looking into her eyes.

The tears stopped coming and she looked down, wiping the tear tracks from her face and sniffling like a pathetic young child.

"Will you walk me home?" She finally asked. "I don't know where we are."

"Of course. I don't think I'm going to let you out of my sight again until you're completely recovered, anyway."

Mabel smiled a little. Bill put a hand on her shoulder and began to lead her out of the woods.

"Why did you save me?"

He thought about it a moment. Why _did_ he stop her? He could've just stood by and let the Pines family, his arch-enemies, self-destruct.

"I guess I just don't like the idea of someone taking their own life." He glanced over at the brunette, who was tugging her sweater sleeve down. "Or hurting themselves."

"Is everything going to get better?"

"Look, Shooting Star, I ain't gonna lie to you. There's going to be plenty more tough times ahead. But there'll be happier times too. Life isn't fair, and it's going to suck, but there will be moments that make it worth it."

"You sound like a fortune cookie."

"I've been around for a long time. I'm allowed to sound like something you get in a cheap sweet from a Chinese restaurant."

She giggled a little, and Bill felt a little bit of satisfaction. They came to the edge of the forest just off the Mystery Shack's property, and Bill released her shoulder.

"Will I see you again?"

"You can count on it, ya stupid kid."

Mabel smiled a little and sprinted back to the run-down old building. She still had a bit of sadness in her heart, but it was dulled down and manageable now.

She snuck up to the attic to find a very panicked scrawny teenage boy.

"Where did you _go?_" Dipper snapped.

She tensed up and considered lying for a moment, but quickly decided that he couldn't help her if she lied.

"Look, Dip, I'm not going to lie to you. I came really close to becoming a rag doll hanging in the forest."

He stared at her, wide-eyed. "You tried to -"

"Almost tried to. Someone stopped me."

"Mabel... why?"

"I'll explain in the morning." She pulled off her sweater and climbed under the covers.

"You're not just going to leave me with that, are you?"

"Until morning, yes, I am."

"Well, who stopped you then? We're going to have to thank them."

Just before she pulled the covers over her head, she glanced out the window to see Bill Cipher in his human form, staring in the window and leaning against a tree.

"Someone that isn't as bad as we thought he was." She replied simply, going into Cover Town.

"Are you honestly fully recovered from what you just almost did?" Dipper was obviously rather shaken-up by her confession.

"No, but I'll get help tomorrow. I'll call the hotline."

"You promise?"

"I promise."


End file.
